The FiFTh Gospel
Being A life of JesusFor The Third Millennium
By and based on the books of RobeRt J. CoRmieR www.thefaithkit.org
Courtesy of CRossRoad PublisHing www.cpcbooks.com
With illustrations executed by Roseanne PezzollaPermission to duplicate this material for non-commercial purposes is gladly given.
A Letter to the reAder
Dear Reader:
Two thousand years of Christian history now make clear that the gospels of Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John were written well after the life of Jesus, by writers who drew upon existing mate-
rial to put together a teaching tool that would serve the needs of their particular time and place.
As we can see when we compare the gospels, the gospel writers did not employ identical material
indeed, many famous gospel stories are told by only oneand, even where the writers employed
essentially the same material, they told things in special and sometimes very different ways in order
to make a religious point.
Such is the spirit of what is offered to you here. It is a gospel written for the needs of the third
millenniuma modern age which has a bigger sense of the goodness of Jesus Father, a smaller sense
that you should prove things with miracles, and a clearer idea of what constitutes good writing.
Based On The Books Of robert J. Cormier
1
ProLog
God AlwAys wAs. And it was always His desire to share His life with othersto create a
family with whom to share Himself.
God did not do this to have a family; He did not choose to create us because He was bored or
because He was lonely. Rather, He, who is the origin of fulfillment, was already a family whom
we address as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God chose to create us solely out of love. He chose to create us so that we could live. And He
chose to put His whole self into making us so that He could love us with all His heart.
Loving us even before we existed He would allow us to participate in our own creation, and to
know the divine satisfaction of being our own person.
He conceived a plan so this would happen and then He said: Let there be light.
JosePh And mAry
God knew ThAT we could not become His family unless we knew that we were His children.
For this reason, and from all time, it was His plan to send us the beloved son who would teach this
truth and make known to us His love.
This son would be our brother, born in time, in a particular place.
He would be born to a particular people, the Jews whom God had prepared for this purpose.
He would be born to a family, headed by Joseph of Nazareth, in Galilee, a carpenter, and an
the FiFth gosPeL Being A Life Of Jesus For The Third Millennium
2
upright man in need of a wife.
His mother would be Mary, the daughter of Joachim and Ann.
Mary was a loving daughter, and obedient. She was kind and she was peaceful. She was a virgin.
Though she had dedicated her life to loving God, she accepted her parents decision that she
should marry Joseph.
She conceived a son a short time later.
the birth oF Jesus
The Boys BirTh came before it was expected, as Joseph and Mary were returning from the home of Mary's cousin Elizabeth who needed a visit.
There was no place for them at the inn, and so they stayed in a stable that was not much different
from their own little house.
There was no one but Joseph to help Mary in the cool night air, under the especially bright stars
that tried to say that history was about to change.
And Mary gave birth to her first-born son, and
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him
in a manger.
It appeared an event of no importance, unknown
except to some shepherds who happened to be
passing by, but high above and in their midst, the
hosts of heaven were singing: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to His people on earth.
Based On The Books Of robert J. Cormier
3
Eight days later, the child was given the name Jesus, which means God saves. Forty days after
his birth, this child was presented to God.
Jesus eArLy LiFe
Jesus pArenTs were poor, but they had each other, and they loved him.
He for his part was obedient to them, and he learned from them. From his father he learned to
be carpenter, and how to speak to men. And from his mother, he learned about life, and how to
speak to God.
Though Jesus childhood was similar to that of all of his friends, there were to be seen, though not
everyone noticed, epiphanies of his future glory.
First, there were his many questions to the most learned rabbis in Nazareth. At first these questions
produced only smiles, but as Jesus continued to penetrate lifes great issues, the rabbis were amazed,
and sometimes they were frustrated.
Then there was Jesus kindness, especially to those children who otherwise played alone, because they were
crippled in some way, or because they did not come from families that were important or respected.
Then there was his leadership. He gained this role among his friends not by force nor bad
example, but rather his many good ideas and projection of inner strength. Thereafter he was a wise
leader who relied mostly on inspiration, sometimes on persuasion, but never on intimidation.
He was especially wise, and even peaceful when he was taunted for his goodness by those who
resented it. He did not respond in kind, but instead showed patience; and he did not run when he
was threatened.
the FiFth gosPeL Being A Life Of Jesus For The Third Millennium
4
It was the wise Simeon who said to his mother, this boy is going to be the light of the world, and
the glory of his people, but for love of him your heart will be pierced. Mary pondered these and
other such things people said about Jesus, though it was hard for her to hear them.
Jesus was not yet a man when Joseph died, but he
was now the man of his little family, and he took up
his responsibilities without bluster and without fear.
Jesus may have been the man of the family, but the
soul of the family was still his mother. She cried
when Joseph died and yet she prayed: Let it be done
to me as You would have it. She accepted Josephs
death as Gods will, even though her son was young,
as she had always accepted everything God had sent
into her life whether she understood it or not.
As he grew in body and mind, Jesus remained at peace with the mission of caring for his mother,
but he also became devoted to the mission of knowing his Father, his heavenly Father. He worked
and he prayed, he loved and he lived. Through all this the Father revealed Himself.
What He revealed was, first of all, His love. God is good and good is love. We are His children;
He loves us, all of us, with all His heart.
Certainly He made us to know Him, to see Him, to live with Him, and to live with Him forever.
This is the kingdom the people are waiting for, even though they do not know it.
But they need to know it so they can prepare. God must find us ready when He comes to be our
king. We must turn away from the idol of this world and all forms of sin. We must love God as
He has first loved us. We must love His other children, our brothers and sisters. Then we will be
ready.
Based On The Books Of robert J. Cormier
5
Of course, God is already with us now. He has always guided His people and He is guiding us still.
Our work is to accept thisto get ready for the kingdom by believing it is coming.
The Father had given Jesus this message. It had to be proclaimed. But Jesus was already thirty years
old. He was not schooled, nor wealthy, nor powerful, nor famous. What could he do? How could
he do it? He went to the desert in search of his answer.
Forty dAys in the desert
Jesus sTAyed in the desert forty days and forty nights, and during this time he suffered hunger
and was otherwise tempted not to accept his Fathers call.
He was most tempted by the desire to fill his stomach and return to the life he knew.
He was uneasy before the prospect of all he would have to give up, and the poverty that now would
be his life.
He was even tormented by envy. To give up everything while others are rich, powerful, and
famousthis did not seem fair; and accepting it seemed hard to do.
But the Father comforted Jesus in his travails, and the more Jesus was tempted by the world, the
the FiFth gosPeL Being A Life Of Jesus For The Third Millennium
6
more the Father revealed to him the truth.
It is not by bread alone that we can live, but by the bread of life, the Word of God.
When Jesus was tempted to demand from the Father signs and explanations, and a mission that
would not ask from him so much, he was told: You shall not put the Lord your God to the
test.
Only the Lord is God. Him alone shall you adore.
Jesus knew what he must do.
Jesus And John the bAPtist
on reTurninG FroM the desert, Jesus went to the Jordan to meet John the baptizer, who was
preaching a baptism of repentance.
The messiah is coming. We must be prepared. Prepare the way of the Lord, he said, make
straight his paths.
I am a voice crying out in the desert, he said of himself.
People came to John from Jerusalem and all of Judea. They asked him What must we do and he
told them reform your lives.
